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College uncertainty unsustainable

Published: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 11:27 a.m.

We are more than a week removed from this year’s legislative session in Baton Rouge and just two weeks away from the beginning of the new fiscal year. But Nicholls State officials are still unsure what the future holds for the university’s financial picture.

Nicholls was bracing for another significant cut this year in the money it receives from the state. That money has decreased from $37 million in 2007 to just $17 million this year.

Nicholls State President Stephen Hulbert said the school will likely do without another $2 million in the coming budget.

With cut after cut, year after year, Nicholls has had a tough time staying afloat.

Services to students have been cut dramatically, and the school has had to lay off 120 faculty and staff members and cut out 11 academic programs.

Those are big changes in a school that is still charged with its vital mission of educating tomorrow’s leaders for a vast part of south Louisiana.

It is a mission that the university accepts and attacks with vigor, but continued cutbacks at the state level make it more difficult. Those cutbacks also mean the university has had to charge higher tuitions to the students it does educate even as it cuts the services available to them.

“We are passing the cost of higher education on as a burden to the student,” Hulbert said.

Fortunately, Louisiana has a generous state tuition program, TOPS, which helps offset much of the cost to many students. That cost share, though, creates its own problems. As tuition spirals upward, so does the cost of TOPS to the state.

It is a difficult situation and one that is unlikely to abate this year. Instead, Nicholls and other colleges and universities across the state are likely to deal with more financial strains — though how much more they still don’t know.

“We are just weeks away from bringing up a budget, and we have no idea what our funding will be,” Hulbert said.

That is no way to run any organization, much less one with a job as critical as our state’s universities.

Louisiana’s leaders simply must do something to alleviate the perpetual movement from one budget cut to the next with no relief in sight.

The job of education is too important for it to fall victim each year to budget cuts.

Unfortunately, with no serious prospect of creating a more sustainable state budget, the trend of the past several years looks likely to continue. We can only hope we’ll be spared the long-term impact actions like these are likely to have on our state.

<p>We are more than a week removed from this year's legislative session in Baton Rouge and just two weeks away from the beginning of the new fiscal year. But Nicholls State officials are still unsure what the future holds for the university's financial picture.</p><p>Nicholls was bracing for another significant cut this year in the money it receives from the state. That money has decreased from $37 million in 2007 to just $17 million this year.</p><p>Nicholls State President Stephen Hulbert said the school will likely do without another $2 million in the coming budget.</p><p>With cut after cut, year after year, Nicholls has had a tough time staying afloat.</p><p>Services to students have been cut dramatically, and the school has had to lay off 120 faculty and staff members and cut out 11 academic programs.</p><p>Those are big changes in a school that is still charged with its vital mission of educating tomorrow's leaders for a vast part of south Louisiana.</p><p>It is a mission that the university accepts and attacks with vigor, but continued cutbacks at the state level make it more difficult. Those cutbacks also mean the university has had to charge higher tuitions to the students it does educate even as it cuts the services available to them.</p><p>“We are passing the cost of higher education on as a burden to the student,” Hulbert said.</p><p>Fortunately, Louisiana has a generous state tuition program, TOPS, which helps offset much of the cost to many students. That cost share, though, creates its own problems. As tuition spirals upward, so does the cost of TOPS to the state.</p><p>It is a difficult situation and one that is unlikely to abate this year. Instead, Nicholls and other colleges and universities across the state are likely to deal with more financial strains — though how much more they still don't know.</p><p>“We are just weeks away from bringing up a budget, and we have no idea what our funding will be,” Hulbert said.</p><p>That is no way to run any organization, much less one with a job as critical as our state's universities.</p><p>Louisiana's leaders simply must do something to alleviate the perpetual movement from one budget cut to the next with no relief in sight.</p><p>The job of education is too important for it to fall victim each year to budget cuts.</p><p>Unfortunately, with no serious prospect of creating a more sustainable state budget, the trend of the past several years looks likely to continue. We can only hope we'll be spared the long-term impact actions like these are likely to have on our state.</p><p>Editorials represent the opinions of</p><p>the newspaper, not of any individual.</p>